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Anyone bred guppies before?

Feb 1, 2006 at 9:06 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 25
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Pepsione1

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I want to breed some guppies as feeder fish. I have a small 15 gallon tank with a air pump. No heater and I went to store and bought a dozen feeders. It's been 5 days and 3 has died. The water temp is probably 65F with no filter. I feed them 2-3 times a day with grinded up gold fish pallets.

I plan on getting a heater and a timer to keep the temperature at 75F and have the light on 12 hours each day. I don't have a filter because the filter kept sucking the guppies in even with the net I built. There are plenty of water for a dozen of little fish so far it's managable without the filter (I hope, tell me if i am wrong).
 
Feb 1, 2006 at 9:12 PM Post #2 of 25
*calls PETA on you*

>=O


I think all fishes belong in their habitats, though.

My nephew and I had guppies and those cool red/blue fish when we were growing up. The guppies bred like crazy and the colored fish died. I think it got so bad in the tank that the guppies started eating the dead bodies of their fellow fish when we forgot to clean out the tank and feed them.
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We were really little. We used to cry when one died and we had to flush it down the toilet, but after a while, we got numb to all the horror of it and just did a mass-dumping of bodies whenever we remembered to clean out the filter.

I hope yours have a better time than ours did.
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Feb 1, 2006 at 10:10 PM Post #3 of 25
you need a filter, period. you need the bacteria that build up in the filter to break down the waste products of the fish.

you can get a hang on back (HOB) filter, like this
http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/...721&pcid1=2885
imageload

(btw, bigals has great internet prices, a fantastic store. alternatively, there is drs foster & smith too. both are WAY cheaper than petsmart and local stores)

Aquaclear makes good filters, I have several. they are quiet, reliable, and easy to clean. you can make or buy a cyclindrical sponge ("prefilter" sponge) that you can stick on the bottom on the pipe that sucks in the water, and that will prevent any non-miniscule solid matter from going into the filter.

I think you are also feeding them far too often. Fish really only need to be fed once a day (generalization). too much food clouds up the water and can actually boost chemical levels in the aquarium that can poison the fish (nitrates i think...i mix them up with nitrites...).

I DO breed guppies in a sense. I have an aquarium that has 1 rainbow crab and a colony of guppies. I started with only 10. all but 2 were eaten. now I have between 20-30 all of various ages, from tiny spawn to full grown adults. Their numbers fluctuate (crab helps with that), but they keep a healthy population going. I don't heat that tank, but DO filter it.

if you need more advice, ask away, or check out aquariacentral (a great aquarium forum)

good luck.
 
Feb 1, 2006 at 10:55 PM Post #5 of 25
Yah i pulled the pump just now after installing the GFCI. The air pump is way too loud. So I fixed the net a bit more and plug the filter back in. Filter can provide both air and filtration. I bought a heater but I am still unsure if I should have that in there. Although I read heat can increase metabolism so they breed faster (also dies faster).

Looks like I might have to move the guppies to a smaller (5 gallon) tank because my two turtles suddenly started fighting a lot this past week. I am forced to seperated them for the time being. I swear I will make soup with one of time if they don't stop this non-sense soon...
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Feb 2, 2006 at 12:35 AM Post #7 of 25
When I first glanced at the title of this thread, I thought it said "Anyone bed groupies before?" The answer is no . . . on both counts.
 
Feb 3, 2006 at 12:07 AM Post #9 of 25
Quote:

Originally Posted by Pepsione1

Looks like I might have to move the guppies to a smaller (5 gallon) tank because my two turtles suddenly started fighting a lot this past week. :


Wait so you have the guppies WITH the turtles? Turtles are one of the most disgustingly dirty things ever, and a simple air pump isnt going to keep em alive. The HOB filter is a good idea, although with turtles Id be going canister.

If you kept the guppies by themselves a HOB would be more than enough, you could even get by with a sponge filter with frequent water changes. And ditto, you are feeding far too often. Its fairly hard to kill guppies
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. I would also think of raising the water temp -get a heater.

And in a 5 gallon, assuming you breed them successfully, you are quickly going to have too large a bio-load in there. I hope they will routinely be fished out and fed to whatever you are feeding them to (turtles, i imagine?)
Make sure the tank is cycled, bla bla bla etc.

good luck!
 
Feb 3, 2006 at 3:54 AM Post #11 of 25
Quote:

Originally Posted by pbirkett
What? You are keeping tropical fish in cold water. No bloody wonder they are dying
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I didn't know they were tropical fish. I also read from several websites that guppies do not necessary need heater. As long as the water temp doesn't vary too much in one day (from day to night) they will be fine. Heat will increase metabolism and increase breeding rate (also grow old faster). This is an experiement and for feeding so I didn't want to jump and get a bunch of stuff for a few dollars worth of guppies.

BTW, if you had read my previous posts, you wouldn't have made the wrong assumption and rolled your eyes at me.
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Thanks for nothing.
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Feb 3, 2006 at 3:58 AM Post #12 of 25
Quote:

Originally Posted by bpm2000
Wait so you have the guppies WITH the turtles?

And in a 5 gallon, assuming you breed them successfully, you are quickly going to have too large a bio-load in there. I hope they will routinely be fished out and fed to whatever you are feeding them to (turtles, i imagine?)
Make sure the tank is cycled, bla bla bla etc.

good luck!


The turtles are in a separate tank with a proper setup. However since they have been fighting I might have to pulled one of them out and put them in my current guppy tank and move the guppies to a smaller tank (the 5 gallon). I will start feeding them to the turtles once the population can sustain regular growth. I can't wait, it's so much fun watching them chase the little fishes around.
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Turtles aren't dirty if take care of them properly, they are fun to watch when they are playful.
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